This disclosure relates to a turbine blade for a gas turbine engine. In particular, the disclosure relates to a turbine blade having a platform with a U-channel.
Some gas turbine engines include high and low pressure turbine sections on separate spools. A type of turbine blade in the high pressure section may include a platform and a lower wing forming a U-channel. The platform supports an airfoil. The U-channel reduces the stress in the area of a trailing edge of the airfoil.
A platform of an adjacent turbine rotor disk interleaves with the U-channel. Typically, air is delivered to the region between the adjacent rotor disks to provide cooling. However, the air provided in such cooling schemes does not always reached the U-channel. For example, the cooling air must turn forward or upstream to travel around the lower wing and reach the U-channel. Additionally, cooling air delivered to the cavity has a tendency to escape between the remaining faces of adjoining vanes due to the interaction of the vane platform with the U-channel.